The process of radiative electron capture (REC) in relativistic collisions of high-Z ions with low-Z gaseous and solid targets is studied experimentally and theoretically. The observed x-ray spectra are analyzed with respect to photon angular distributions as well as to total K-REC cross sections. The experimental results for angle-differential cross sections are well reproduced by exact relativistic calculations which yield significant deviations from standard ${\sin }^2$θ distributions. Total cross sections for K-REC are shown to follow a simple scaling rule obtained from exact relativistic calculations as well as from a nonrelativistic dipole approximation. The agreement between these different theoretical approaches must be regarded as fortuitous, but it lends support to the use of the nonrelativistic approach for practical purposes.

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